Ex-Manafort family member arrested in fraud case

Jeffrey Yohai was mentioned several times at Paul Manafort’s trial on tax and bank fraud charges in a Virginia federal court this summer | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

By JOSH GERSTEIN

11/07/2018 11:56 PM EST

Jeffrey Yohai, an ex-son-in-law of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was arrested by federal authorities Wednesday on charges he carried out a series of financial scams after pleading guilty to real estate fraud in federal court in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Yohai, 36, was arrested on state charges related to some of the alleged frauds last month and taken into federal custody Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna’s office announced in a press release.

Yohai was married to Manafort’s daughter Jessica in 2013. She filed for divorce in 2017.

Yohai was mentioned several times at Paul Manafort’s trial on tax and bank fraud charges in a Virginia federal court this summer. Yohai wasn’t charged in that case and was never called as a witness, but Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors accused Manafort of providing fraudulent information in an effort to secure a loan from the Banc of California on properties he invested in with Yohai.

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That particular bank fraud charge was one of eight felonies a jury convicted Manafort on in August. Jurors split, 11 to 1, on the other charges, which were dismissed last month as part of a plea deal.

The new criminal complaint against Yohai makes clear that the investigation into the two men became significantly intertwined. Sherine Ebadi, the same California-based FBI agent who was a constant presence at Manafort’s trial as the lead case agent, swore out the affidavit used to arrest Yohai this week.

In that affidavit, Ebadi also suggests Yohai of trying to further his frauds by invoking his ties to the Manafort case and the broader Mueller probe.

Ebadi said that last month Yohai told men trying to sell a Los Angeles home that he’d be traveling to Washington soon to aid Mueller’s inquiry.

“During lunch, YOHAI told [the men] that he ‘turned state’s evidence’ on his father-in-law, Paul Manafort,” Edadi wrote. “YOHAI made several statements…that he had to go to ‘D.C.’ to meet with the Special Counsel’s Office or ‘downtown’ to meet with ‘the f.’”

“I know these statements to be false as I was the case agent for the Special Counsel’s case against Manafort. The last time YOHAI met with me was in April 2018 and the topic of conversation was YOHAI, not Manafort,” Ebadi added.

It’s unclear why Yohai’s claims of involvement in the Mueller probe would make him a more attractive participant in a business deal.

The new complaint confirms reports in POLITICO and other news outlets in May that Yohai pleaded guilty earlier this year in a federal fraud case stemming from his earlier efforts to obtain financing for high-end properties in the Los Angeles area that he intended to “flip” and re-sell.

Ebadi says Yohai pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of bank wire fraud in federal court in Los Angeles in February. That hearing was held behind closed doors. The case remains under seal for reasons that have not been revealed.

The new complaint levels two additional felony charges at Yohai: wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was formally advised of the new charges during an appearance in federal court Wednesday afternoon, but the charges are preliminary and will likely be replaced with a grand jury indictment soon.

The reports of Yohai’s legal troubles and his felony plea earlier this year don’t seem to have persuaded the rich and famous to steer clear of him.

The latest complaint says that, in August, Yohai brokered a deal for an NBA basketball player to rent a luxury L.A. home from physician Aaron Coppelson for two months for $160,000.

The player took up residence in the home, but the funds never arrived and Yohai offered a series of excuses for why.

One of the most colorful claims in the new charges is that Yohai tried to use a stash of marijuana to cover the debt he owed to Coppelson for that rental and others.“YOHAI said he was getting Coppelson’s money from a prominent marijuana grower who owed YOHAI $300,000,” Ebadi wrote.

“When YOHAI arrived at Coppelson’s house, he was driving a Porsche Panamera,” she added. “YOHAI said he did not have Coppelson’s money, but he pulled out a large bag of marijuana from the trunk of the vehicle and offered it to Coppelson as collateral for the money owed. Coppelson refused.”

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